


An Even More Interesting Little Relationship

by Gates_Keeper



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, First Kiss, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:42:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28185585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gates_Keeper/pseuds/Gates_Keeper
Summary: “You’ve been spending so much time at band practice and gigs, it feels like I haven’t seen you in a while,” her father told her, coming closer to press a kiss to the top of her head.Guilt put a lump in her throat. “I’m sorry, papi. Things have been really busy, but—”“No, no, none of that,” her dad insisted, stepping back and holding her by the shoulders. “I’m proud of how hard you’re working. It’s just—there’s something I’ve been wanting to talk to you about for a while now…”“Okay….” she dragged the word out, hesitantly.She hadn’t missed any more classes and her grades had been good. Plus, he didn’t have his scary face on, so it probably wasn’t bad news…“I’m gonna…” Luke started to say, jerking his thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the garage.“It’s about that boy of yours.”ORRay confronts Julie about Luke.
Relationships: Julie Molina/Luke Patterson
Comments: 52
Kudos: 485





	An Even More Interesting Little Relationship

“So, uh, apparently one of the drive-in movie theaters in town is doing a double feature this weekend: Jurassic Park then Jurassic World,” Luke mentioned, sitting on Julie’s kitchen counter in ripped jeans and his Rush shirt.

“You didn’t tell Reggie, right?” she asked, having been subjected to his Star Wars rant several times by now.

“God no. He’s still freaking out about the new Ghostbusters. Gotta tell you—when I pictured the future, I thought it’d have hoverboards and a _lot_ more originality.”

“If it helps, you’re not the only one who’s disappointed,” she promised, standing on her tiptoes. Her dad had put the brownie mix all the way at the top of one of the cupboards, a solid two inches away from her reaching fingers.

“Hey, I got it,” Luke said, suddenly behind her. Her breath shuddered when she felt his chest pressed up against her back, one of his guitar-calloused hands settling on her hip for leverage as he retrieved the box.

“Here,” he rumbled, setting the mix down in front of her, but not moving away.

She turned her head enough to see the mischievous glint in his eye. Boy knew _exactly_ what he was doing.

“Over there,” she said, shoving him slightly, still thrilled every time she touched him and felt not-air. “I can’t bake with you hovering.”

He tried to act all wounded about it, but his grin couldn’t help shining through.

“So anyway,” he continued once she’d pulled out the largest bowl they had and poured in all the dry ingredients. “I was thinking of grabbing the show and… I wondered if you wanted to come with me?”

She fumbled a bit with the measuring cups but recovered gracefully. She thought. Hoped.

Because if he hadn’t told Reggie about what was playing… “Just you and me?”

“Yeah… I mean, if you want to?” he asked, confidence receding a little bit—which was just as charming, if not more so, than the smirking.

“Of course, I’d—I’d love that,” she promised.

“Cool,” Luke breathed out, smile back on his face while Julie hid hers behind one of the cabinet drawers.

Already, her fingers itched to call Flynn and tell her what had just happened. Then demand her help picking out something to wear. And figuring out what to do with her hair.

Julie was glad her best friend had finally gotten aboard the Luke train—or at least was _more_ on-board with it now that the two of them could touch. It didn’t solve everything, of course. Her sixteenth birthday was just around the corner—with dozens of more birthdays lined up after that.

But it had been a miracle that the boys came into her life at all—a miracle that they’d been able to stay after Caleb branded them. She wanted to believe they could find a miracle again. And, if not—well, she was already too far down this particular rabbit hole to get out of it intact. She might as well love Luke—love all her boys—as much as she could for as long as she could.

For a while, the kitchen was quiet.

Reggie and Alex would probably be stunned Luke even _had_ this setting when he wasn’t songwriting, but he seemed to like just hanging around her—their eyes meeting and then ricocheting away from each other like balls on a pool table.

She was about to ask if he wanted to help stir the batter when—

“There you are, _mija_!” her father exclaimed, rounding the corner.

“Here I am,” she said unnecessarily.

“You’ve been spending so much time at band practice and gigs, it feels like I haven’t seen you in a while,” he told her, coming closer to press a kiss to the top of her head.

Guilt put a lump in her throat. “I’m sorry, _papi_. Things have been really busy, but—”

“No, no, none of that,” her dad insisted, stepping back and holding her by the shoulders. “I’m proud of how hard you’re working. It’s just—there’s something I’ve been wanting to talk to you about for a while now…”

“Okay….” she dragged the word out, hesitantly.

She hadn’t missed any more classes and her grades had been good. Plus, he didn’t have his scary face on, so it probably wasn’t bad news…

“I’m gonna…” Luke started to say, jerking his thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the garage.

“It’s about that boy of yours.”

Julie could feel her shoulders stiffening under her dad’s touch. And judging by the hint of blue she could still see out of her peripheral vision, Luke had frozen too.

“Who? What? I—I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Uh huh,” her father responded, clear disbelief in her voice. “Now, I know that I haven’t been the quickest at catching onto things that have been happening in your life recently, but I’m not blind. I’ve seen the way that guitarist looks at you when you sing. Like—like—”

“Like what?” she couldn’t help but ask, even though she’s pretty sure her cheeks were blooming the same color as her mom’s dahlias.

“Like you’re sunlight. Or magic.” He tilted her chin up. “I’m not the songwriter here, but he looks at you the way I used to look at your mother. And, correct me if I’m wrong, you don’t seem to mind…”

Her heart fluttered. At the same time, she thought she might die from embarrassment—which would probably be the only story more embarrassing than death by hotdog.

“So, given that this—this—” Her father raised her eyebrows, expectantly.

“Luke,” she murmured under her breath, noticing the ghost boy startle a little at his name.

“Luke,” her dad repeated, “is important to you, I think I should know a little more about him, hmmm? I mean, when Rose and I talked about this day, we always assumed she’d be the one getting all the intel, but…”

“I don’t really know what you want me to say,” Julie mumbled, aching for the chance that her dad described. Even if she was pretty sure that her mom _did_ know about her feelings for Luke after watching her from the Great Beyond, it was something that she still longed to share in person…

“Let’s start with how old he is.”

“Um, 17.”

“Hmm,” her dad said thoughtfully. “Well, I guess it’s good that he’s on the other side of the world for a while then, yes?”

 _Oh, God,_ she thought, feeling her cheeks heat up even more. Somehow it was getting _worse._

“But do you think he and the band will visit soon? If you guys get a manager….”

“I—I suppose, yeah, but—we’ve been planning on dealing with things one step at a time.”

“Maybe I can video chat with him and the others one of these days?”

She was just about to come up with yet another lie in a long line of extremely lame excuses when Luke was suddenly standing near her dad’s shoulder, nodding his head vigorously. “N—Yes. Yes! I’m sure we can—work something out,” Julie stuttered.

“Great!”

“Does that mean the interrogation is over?”

“For now,” her dad smiled, once again kissing her head. He looked over at the mostly finished bowl of brownie mix. “And save me one of those, will ya?”

She nodded, staring down at the floor as he grabbed his camera and hat off the counter and proceeded to head for the front door.

For a while, she and Luke didn’t say anything—just listened to the distant sound of her mom’s old cuckoo clock in the living room.

Eventually, though, she reached out to punch him in the arm—cursing herself for noticing all over again how muscular his bicep was. “Why didn’t you poof out?!” she demanded, cheeks still burning hot enough that she thought she could bake the brownie batter just by hovering her face over the bowl.

“Uh, I don’t think poofing works that well if you’re nervous. It’s kinda like that time we were eavesdropping on you and Flynn—”

“You _what?_ ”

“—and we all just ended up posing against the garage door.”

Now that she thought about it, she could suddenly remember the day he was talking about—right after she’d performed _Wake Up_ for the first time. And technically, she’d already yelled at them for that.

“Fine! But why’d you have me tell Dad he could talk to you? How are we gonna swing that?”

“I just—I want him to like me,” Luke pleaded with hazel puppy dog eyes. “And if he thinks I’m dodging him, he won’t. Come on, Jules, we can figure it out. Maybe if we all play our instruments really quiet, he’ll think we have background music on or something….”

Even since Carlos had learned their secret, he’d been testing their ghost abilities, helping them control them slightly better, so she supposed it was possible.

Of course, both of them were skating the _reason_ her dad wanted to speak to Luke in the first place.

“Where am I supposed to be from again?” Luke asked—and when had he gotten so close to her?

“I told Flynn Sweden, but it’s probably better if we go with Canada—or somewhere else where they speak English.”

“Yeah, good plan,” he nodded, biting his lip, taking another step closer. “Although it’s such a shame. If I’m all the way in Canada…” he reached out for her hand and tugged her closer. “I can’t do this,” he remarked, only about six inches from her, eyes sweeping her face to judge her reaction. He apparently got the one he was looking for.

“Or this,” he murmured, cupping her cheek in his hand the way he did after the Orpheum performance. She leaned into it automatically.

“Or this,” he whispered, bending his head down oh-so-slowly, giving her all the time in the world to change her mind.

She didn’t.

The first brush of his lips against hers was startlingly soft—and warm. He was so, _so_ warm. And then he pressed against her a little harder, encouraging her mouth to move with his—and that warmth turned crackling, turned electric—his arms around her waist, her hands in his slightly-sweaty hair.

Unlike the day they became solid, this time, she was pretty sure she only imagined the glow surrounding him, surrounding _them_ —but she was no less thrilled by it, her body thrumming with feelings that she knew would one day become lyrics—because nothing had ever inspired her more than this person in her arms, whose smile was growing the more they kissed until finally he gave her a break to breathe.

It took a second after he pulled away for her to open her eyes—but when she did, it was to find Luke unabashedly staring at her just the way her dad described.

“See you at band practice, Boss?” he asked, voice low and happy.

She nodded—watching him wink out of the room, her lips still tingling.

And if she finished baking the brownies while singing at the top of her lungs, well—who could blame her?


End file.
